After announcing she's entering the 2026 South Carolina governor's race this week, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Newsmax she's looking to take advantage of a huge opportunity next year and join the ranks of "America First" governors in supporting President Donald Trump's agenda.
During a Thursday morning appearance on "Wake Up America," Mace said that Trump "could end the race today" if he wanted to.
"We're ahead in every single poll," she said. "I'm going to work very hard to earn his endorsement. We're raising money hand over fist right now. We believe we raised more money in the first 10 hours than any other candidate in their first 10 days. And so, I hope that he's watching. I hope he's watching how hard we're working. Mr. President, if you are, we're working very hard for you."
She added, "We have a huge opportunity in the midterms next year to deliver on 'America First' governors across the country, and I want to be part of that leadership team."
Her number one priority for South Carolina, Mace said, is "law and order," noting that "although we're a red state here … our statewide leaders, particularly our attorney general, have turned a blind eye to sanctuary policies that have run rampant."
"I was one of the few elected officials who spoke out last year when there was a sanctuary sheriff letting out illegals who were murderers, rapists and pedophiles," she said. "I have a bill to address that federally in Congress — the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act that was included in the rules package in January — but also looking at our justice system, we've got a lot of folks that are victims of crimes."
"Our police and our [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division], they do all these investigations, they give the evidence to the prosecutors, and the prosecutors don't prosecute. We've got pedophiles walking free in South Carolina. Our attorney general gave many of them one day in jail, for example," said Mace.
Another area where Mace said she sees a need for change in the Palmetto State is the state income tax, which she said is "the highest state income tax in the Southeast."
"We can't compete with Florida or Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina," she said. "I have a plan, it's called five years to zero, a very simple commonsense plan like Donald Trump would do, to take our state income tax from 6% down to zero."
Finally, Mace said she would like to "fix our education system" in South Carolina to ensure that all high school graduates have access to gainful employment.
"I'm a high school dropout, and I know what it's going to take to get our kids educated and certified and highly skilled to have these great, high-paying jobs whether they're going to college or not when they graduate from high school," she said.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.